Clinton School Speaker To Discuss ‘Democratic Sports’

 

 

“Democratic Sports: Men’s and Women’s College Athletics during the Great Depression”
Brad Austin

Brad Austin is a professor of history at Salem State University, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in modern American history, sports history, and history education, and has served as the chairperson of the American Historical Association’s Teaching Prize Committee.

In his new book “Democratic Sports: Men’s and Women’s College Athletics during the Great Depression,” Austin explores the funding cuts that American public universities suffered while they were also responsible for educating an increasing number of students. University leaders used their athletic programs to combat the crisis of mounting financial troubles, coupled with a perceived increase in the number of “radical” student activists, and to preserve “traditional” American values and institutions, prescribing different models for men and women.

In the book, Austin discusses the stark contrast of educators emphasizing the individualistic, competitive nature of men’s athletics in order to reinforce the existing American political and economic systems, while the prevailing model of women’s college athletics taught a communal form of democracy, denying women individual attention and high-level competition. “Democratic Sports” tells the important story of how men’s and women’s college athletic programs survived, and even thrived, during the most challenging decade of the twentieth century.

When:  Thursday, October 22, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. *Book signing to follow
Where:  Clinton School of Public Service, Sturgis Hall

*Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or calling (501) 683-5239.

Can’t make it to the program? CLICK HERE to watch the live stream on Thursday, October 22, 2015 at 6:00 p.m.

Editorial Reviews

Review 

“Offers fine, new insights and admirably complicates the standard narrative of 1930s intercollegiate culture. Adds substantially to the literature of sport history.”
—Patrick Miller
“A deeply researched and creative narrative . . . [that] makes a significant contribution to the historical literature of American sports history.”
—Richard O. Davies
Clinton School speaker on democratic sports

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